


Obvious (Soudam)

by ySoda (yrxole)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Background Relationships, Danganronpa 2 - Freeform, Explicit Language, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, One-Sided Sonia Nevermind/Soda Kazuichi, Oneshot, Soda Kazuichi-Centric, soudam - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23790931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yrxole/pseuds/ySoda
Summary: ‘Okay, so not to be assumptious’, Miu finally decided to speak, ‘but I’m pretty sure Tanaka’s in fuckin’ love with you, dude’.
Relationships: Iruma Miu & Soda Kazuichi, Oma Kokichi & Soda Kazuichi, Soda Kazuichi & Everyone, Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham
Comments: 14
Kudos: 258
Collections: Purrsonal Picks





	Obvious (Soudam)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:  
> This one is a bit less 'angsty' than what I'm used to writing, but I kind of liked the change for a bit. 
> 
> Warning: some mature language (although that was expected since Miu is part of the story)
> 
> -I still spell Soda without the 'u', I'm sorry. Ouma however is with the u, I hope that makes up for it a little.  
> -Again, d a n g Gundham's speech is hard. I hope it's not too ooc.   
> -I'm not sure what background ships I decided on anymore, so I guess you'll have to find out. 
> 
> Constructive critisism is welcome, but please don't be too harsh on me :)

It was like any other day at Hope’s Peak when a particular student with dyed bright pink hair and a little bit of a complex about the murmuring of students around him in the hall rushed to make it to his lab, as the mechanic knew that the project he was working on in there was already supposed to be finished by now, but he’d always been a bit of a slow one. Well, not always. The addition of a new student from one of the younger classes to his workplace was really what started to make him turn things in later or at least a little more slow than he’d like it to be. Last year at the school for Ultimates he had gotten a fair warning about this, so this year he was trying his best to at least arrive early and continue working on his projects ‘til late, so he wouldn’t get behind too much. Because even though she required a bit too much attention at times, Kazuichi wouldn’t ever complain to any teacher at the school about the addition of Miu Iruma in his workspace, since he couldn’t remember when was the last time he had as much fun inventing something before the Ultimate Inventor graced him with her presence (as she put it herself). Or basically, he loved hearing her gossip. 

‘Ah, just the pink virgin I wanted to talk to!’, Miu whooped as soon as Kazuichi Soda burst through the door, panting from the run he’d just made. It was nothing new; he would always wake up too late, get out of bed too late, have breakfast too late, and then try to compensate the fact that he’d wasted so much time already with running to his lab like an idiot. Grades were important, but so was sleep, so he wasn’t going to change his sleeping schedule any time soon. ‘I don’t think there are many other  _ virgins _ visiting you in here, anyway’, the mechanic retorted, going over to his own desk, and making the blonde chuckle softly. He was by now very used to her vulgar way of speaking, and even though it was kind of gross at times, he could handle it. ‘There are even less  _ leaving _ here’, she cackled at her own comment, making Soda roll his eyes. It was kind of comforting, really, how little anything changed over the year. 

Kiibo, who was also almost always to be found in the same lab, still had a hard time getting used to the language of the girl that most of the time did their maintenance. Kazuichi had never really been interested in getting to know people from different classes before, since he had a hard time connecting to those that were actually in his own class already, but as soon as he heard the Ultimate Robot, an actual robot, would be there, things changed. Even though Kiibo was pretty humanlike for a robot, Soda still couldn’t help but to be at least a little excited to know them. ‘Good morning, Soda’, Kiibo politely added to the conversation, as every morning. There were basic blueprints for whatever project the mechanic could randomly come up with scattered all over a rather small desk, leaving no space for him to actually work, but that was fine; it usually took him a while to get his workspace ready anyway. He said a simple ‘good morning’, back to the two, as he got to work. Not to get him wrong; he was very glad to have friends from another class, ones that didn’t feel like they were kind of forced to try and like him, but he needed his alone time to concentrate. At least for a little while, since he knew better than anyone that Miu Iruma was the queen at distracting him from what he was supposed to be doing in there. 

‘So, I was just talking to Kiibo about-’, Miu already started, and Kazuichi sighed. ‘Not now, Iruma, you know I need to finish this project soon before ms. Yukizome is going to end me’. He was always known to be a bit of a coward, but anyone knew that when it came to ms. Yukizome, he was completely right to be a little afraid of consequences. She was an amazing teacher overall, but that also meant she was amazing at making her students actually do stuff. May it be a little threatening. The Ultimate Inventor was of course not pleased with this reaction, even though she was given it almost every day. ‘Well, learn how to fuckin’ multitask then, Kazu-bitchy’, she complained, effortlessly handing over a screwdriver the mechanic seemed to need. ‘I’ll just continue talking to Kiibo, since they actually listen’, she continued, but this type of guilt-tripping stopped having an effect on Soda a long time ago. 

However, Kazuichi had also always been the curious, nosy type. So he couldn’t help but to pick up what Miu was saying anyway. 

‘...so that’s why I think Angie, Tenko and Himiko are totally screwing’, was the sentence he sadly enough couldn’t help but to overhear. ‘Miu, I honestly do not ca-’, Kiibo tried, but it was to no avail. No matter how much they would struggle against listening to the crude words that left the inventor, their admiration (which wasn’t much of a secret, although they liked to pretend it was) for the ultimate wouldn’t allow them to actually cut the other off. ‘Anyway, Korekiyo got in trouble, apparently’, Iruma continued the conversation, as she scanned over the blueprints on Kazuichi’s desk for what she would say was inspiration. ‘He did?’, Soda asked, interested. He had only met the dude once or twice as he wasn’t particularly close to either of the pair that actually hung out with Kazuichi, but he didn’t strike him as a trouble maker. He was kind of quiet mostly, until he commented on the mechanic’s teeth and how he’d never seen that kind on a human before and how he’d like to know more about them, and that was basically when Kazuichi stepped away from the conversation. ‘Yeah!’, Miu chirped, glad the attention she knew she’d eventually be getting was finally received. ‘He did something occult-y in class and I think our teacher was scared that he’d summon a demon or something’. The whole scene somewhat reminded the pink haired male of two specific people in his own class. ‘Oh? But that’s like… his thing, right? Why did that get him in trouble?’. Kazuichi’s project was long forgotten now. He would never get to finish it in time, but it wasn’t that big of a problem; as long as Yukizome thought he was working hard on it, he could prevent any lectures from happening any time soon. Miu’s eyes twinkled; she definitely found this part amusing. For a moment the boy was scared she’d go her  _ get on your knees and beg or I won’t tell you anything _ way of things, but luckily, she didn’t. ‘I think the part where he tried to sacrifice Saihara’s virgin body was what drew the line’. And really, it shouldn’t have been that funny of a thought. 

It didn’t take long for them to be engrossed in the chat that made no sense to begin with. Only when Kazuichi actually knocked over some pens and paper when he leaned against his work desk, he realised that he was doing exactly what he shouldn’t be doing and tells himself not to do every single time. ‘Guys, I have work to do, I can’t sit around and chat with you all day’, he huffed in annoyance, as if it was Miu’s fault that he couldn’t concentrate. Which, not gonna lie, it totally was. ‘Rude. Go find your twink ass something better of an excuse not to talk to us’, Iruma batted her eyelashes at him, obviously not actually upset with him. It was kind of uncalled for, though. Whatever. He was used to her antics. 

He had a solid five minutes of comfortable silence to work in when the door to their lab flew open again. Appearing in line of vision was Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader as he claimed, even if no one was really sure if that were his true talent or not. And now, Kaz knew, he could shake it; silence was never an option with that trickster nearby. He wasn’t even mad about it. Kokichi did basically anything he pleased around there, or he would trick others into believing that what they were doing wasn’t pleasing him until the tables turned and he’d get what he wanted anyway. More often than not, he also accompanied the mechanic, robot and inventor in this lab, although Kazuichi was pretty sure the sole purpose for his presence was to annoy the shit out of everyone around him. Especially Kiibo, whom the supreme leader had taken a strange interest in. None of them were exactly great friends with Ouma, but then again, he wasn’t sure if anyone in this school would proudly call themselves a friend of the kid. They had a strange way of communicating altogether, actually. And Kazuichi didn’t think he minded that much. 

It was no surprise that as soon as the kid entered, everything around him was a mess again and Miu and Kokichi were arguing while Kiibo was shaking their head at the teens’ stupid arguments. ‘Dude, what are you even doing here’, Kazuichi complained, contemplating whether or not he would get away with it if he did finally decide to bash their heads in with a wrench, rubbing his face tiredly. Possibly also getting grease over it again, but that's besides the point.Ouma’s face lit up as he remembered what he originally came to do here. Usually that involved spreading either a lie that had everyone confused or an actual true piece of drama that had them just as confused. ‘Oh, I remember, Nishishi! There was actually a huge boring fuss going down in the cafeteria’, the boy said, seemingly more interested in his fingernails than in what he was saying, but if Kazuichi knew one thing about the liar, it was that he wouldn’t just bring up things he deemed boring. ‘That Saionji girl just outed the breeder from your class, or whatever’. Kazuichi almost spat out a non existent liquid. The breeder, that meant Gundham Tanaka, but... that couldn’t be. ‘She did  _ what _ now?!’. 

Kokichi explained what he had observed when he was stealing a portion of better breakfast from the not-interested cafeteria lady, obviously glad to be getting this much attention. ‘Well I mean, it was kinda funny cuz she almost fell off the table she got on, and I thought  _ you _ were a clutz, kee-boy!’, the supreme leader unnecessarily added the robot to the conversation, that muttered something about this specific nickname and the untrue statement being robophobic. ‘And she was all like  _ uhhh Gundham’s gayyy _ and everyone was all like  _ yeah bitch we been knew  _ and it was kind of awkward to watch, really. Well, that’s a lie, it was kinda funny’, Ouma terribly impersonated the voice of Hiyoko as he explained the story, laughing again as he saw Kazuichi’s face, even though it sounded somewhat forced. ‘Yeah, now you say it’, Miu made known she was still around, ‘it’s not actually big news. So why the fuck are you really here?’. The girl obviously knew the boy better than the others in the room. ‘Hmm? Are you questioning my reasoning?’, Kokichi asked innocently, tilting his head that only made him more suspicious. It was one of those things he did that made Kazuichi question whether he was sincere or not, and if it hadn’t already been a tiring conversation to him so far, it surely was now. ‘Please, for our time sake, just spill it Ouma’, Kiibo said politely, as they were used of them. ‘Only because my beloved Kee-boy asked me to’, Kokichi sighed dramatically, as K1-B0 struggled to oppose to that. ‘Hiyoko kinda confiscated some strange journal looking thing from Tanaka that spoke of a person he liked, or something. I bet that got him real angry, nee-hee!’, Ouma grinned, although that grin was quickly gone when three pairs of eyes set on Kazuichi. And Soda, being how he was, had absolutely no idea what that look meant. Expectantly, in a way, and the mechanic had zero idea what they wanted him to say at the moment. So he decided on something he would usually say in situations like these; well, in situations were he just wasn’t sure what was being expected of him. An awkward comment it was. ‘Well, at least I don’t have to be scared anymore that he’ll steal miss Sonia from me, am I right?’. 

Soda chuckled awkwardly as the teens kept looking at him. That wasn’t the right thing to say, apparently, as Kokichi’s face pulled into an irritated expression with a groan and Miu facepalmed herself. If Kiibo could even express disappointment, that face they were making was definitely what disappointment was supposed to look like. ‘What?’, Kazuichi huffed. ‘You really are stupid’, Iruma sighed hopelessly, and Ouma tilted his head again, ‘yeah, no kidding’.  _ That better have been a lie _ , Kazuichi grumpily thought to himself, although he was well aware he wasn’t the brightest around. The other three in the room were just really dumbfounded to how Kazuichi could pay so little attention to the things happening around him, or really, how he was so oblivious to things sometimes. ‘I think we should spell it out for him’, Ouma sighed dramatically, although a small glint in his eyes made Soda sure that revealing the things they did know to the mechanic that didn’t was something he secretly kind of enjoyed. Or not that secretly, otherwise the emotion would’ve been hidden more well. 

‘Okay, so not to be assumptious’, Miu finally decided to speak, ‘but I’m pretty sure Tanaka’s in fuckin’ love with you, dude’. 

Kazuichi in that moment was pretty sure his respiratory system stopped working. ‘Wait- what?!’, he shrieked, somewhat panicked. There was just no way; otherwise, if whatever they were trying to pull right now, would have been a lot more obvious also to Soda, he was sure of that. He eyed his friends to see if they were lying, but apart from Ouma, he was pretty sure he could tell they all looked honest. ‘No, that’s- that’s impossible’, he stammered, his brain working full overtime. Soda was honestly not sure why this assumption was working him up so much, but it did, and he couldn’t possibly  _ not _ panic about it. ‘I mean, we were like… enemies, almost- that wouldn’t- it doesn’t… it doesn’t make sense’, he continued talking, even though he was rambling a bit, and tuned out some comment Miu made about enemies to lovers or whatever that was supposed to mean. The looks never left his friends’ faces, and he grumbled a little more, folding his arms together defensively. ‘For all I know you guys could be pulling a prank on me. I mean, just because we’re friends now doesn’t mean he… you know’, the mechanic trailed off. Kiibo smiled a little at how Kazuichi was acting, for unknown reasons to him. ‘Well, we have to give him that Tanaka isn’t exactly obvious, like some of us’, they said calmly, as Kokichi ignored how that last comment was probably about him. ‘We can’t really blame Soda, his… mental abilities have just proven not to be as advanced as ours’. At least it got a snort out of the supreme leader, but Kazuichi gasped quietly. ‘That was uncalled for, Kiibo’, he huffed, slightly hurt. 

‘Alright then’, Miu exclaimed, running a hand through her hair. To no surprise the robot was immediately focussed on her, talk about subtle, and she folded her arms over her own chest, almost mimicking the mechanic. ‘You’re lucky, for the gorgeous girl genius is willing to help you understand the fucking obvious!’. She sat down on her own desk, and pretended to push glasses back on her nose although her sight had always been perfectly fine (at least as far as Soda knew). Grabbing a blank paper and a pen, she eyed Kazuichi up and down, with a small ‘tsk’ to add a little bit of effect, probably. Legs crossed. Kokichi fake gagged at the girl. ‘So, here we are. List of reasons we know edgy kid is in love with pink virgin over there’, she read aloud, although Kazuichi was pretty sure that the paper had definitely been a blank one. ‘He is grossed out by Soda’s comments about his precious Miss Sonia’, Iruma said, even though it was fairly obvious that half of Soda’s class wasn’t really comfortable with the fact he used to talk non-stop about the princess. ‘So? He could just like her, I don’t blame ‘m’, Kazuichi huffed, rolling his eyes at their stupidity. Although it soon turned out, it was just his stupidity. 

‘He also comes by almost every day to say good morning, although his own workplace is on the other side of the building, isn’t it?’, Kiibo chimed in, adding to Miu’s point.  _ But the cafeteria is close by here _ Soda wanted to argue, but he realised that this fact did nothing to explain why he actually came here, if he could also speak to Sonia or another classmate instead. ‘Well, yeah.. that is kinda strange, I suppose’. ‘No shit’, Miu sighed, resting her face in one of her hands. ‘And then you have the valentines card he send you last valentine’, Kokichi hummed seemingly uninterested, hands on his hips. This information made Kazuichi’s face turn a little redder than it had before, as he struggled somewhat to get a sentence out. ‘That was him?!’. The trickster’s eyes widened only slightly, before he quickly composed himself to a fake expression again, a large grin covering his face. ‘Well, that  _ was _ a lie, nishishi! But I didn’t know you actually got game, candy floss!’. Miu added something to the chat about kazuichi getting all the  _ bitches _ or whatever, but luckily the mechanic managed to tune it out after a quick ‘please don’t call me candy floss, that ain’t even my color’. He himself had been quite surprised when he’d found a card in his room during that day as well, and he actually only told Hajime about it since he was in fact a little embarrassed. Back then, Hinata had acted a little suspicious about knowing what was going on, but Kaz had decided not to think too much about it; the dude was a reserve course anyway, it wasn’t like he had every opportunity to spill the beans to other ultimates. At least that was what the mechanic told himself, while he knew that Hajime was particularly close to some of his other classmates. 

‘Anyway, for the reasons that we’re also pretty sure you return these gay feelings’, Miu spoke up again, once again taking the pen and paper even though it added literally nothing to her points. ‘Whoa whoa whoa, hold up’, Kazuichi coughed suddenly, stopping her from speaking, as he frantically shook his head no, adding fitting hand gestures. ‘I don’t know where you got that idea from, but-’. ‘Let the lady speak, before you lose the ability to’, Kokichi said somewhat cryptically as he pushed his finger to Kazuichi’s face, too close in his personal space to begin with. The ultimate mechanic wasn’t actually that keen on the idea having to listen to this, but he did so anyway, and he was kind of shocked by the multiple theories about how Soda was actually pining for the other male in a way and showing that with some fake crush on Sonia ( _ fake crush? Ridiculous _ ) that the girl managed to think of. There were actually a lot, and Kazuichi started to get confused himself. 

  
‘Alright, well’, Kazuichi started awkwardly once Iruma was done talking, and he scratched his neck sheepishly. He was again at a loss of words, but he tried to quickly come up with something to answer. ‘Uhm, I still don’t know how him saying good morning to me makes you think he’s in love’. For the reason that only thinking about it made him feel a little strange, Kazuichi didn’t want to actually say his name in this conversation. It would’ve been a very strange thing to explain were the breeder to coincidentally hear them speak as he passed through the hall, and were to ask why they were talking about him. ‘You seriously don’t see how he acts around Sonia?’, Iruma groaned tiredly, eyeing the other ultimates around her for support. From Ouma she could’ve expected that he didn’t give a damn, and Kiibo placed a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort the inventor. ‘Yeah, like he wants to steal my girl’, Soda huffed, folding his arms together, again getting a bit defensive for seriously no reason. This emitted a sigh from the three other students.

Now that he thought about it, from all the time he was around Sonia and Gundham the breeder never actually tried to make a move on her, even though they were close. He never once heard the other  _ flirt _ with her or something like that; although he always expected that the strange way of speaking that Tanaka had was his equivalent of chatting the princess up. But he could remember one time where the dude actually had had the balls to call the girl a low ranked demon, while obviously Miss Sonia was an angel if she were to be anything like that. There were also the moments where they acted very awkward and suspicious, definitely Tanaka, when asked if the two were in a relationship; the answer had always been no, and up until now Kazuichi was pretty sure this awkwardness was because Gundham actually had his eye on the girl. Now he wasn’t so sure anymore. And it was safe to say, it was freaking him out a bit. 

‘Wait’, Kazuichi rubbed his forehead, stressed, ‘what the hell guys, you’re making me believe this bullshit’. He gave his friends pleading looks, but they didn’t seem merciful for this subject. ‘Is that a bad thing?’, Miu challenged, hands on her hips and mimicking how Ouma had been standing. He was pretty sure it was a pretty bad thing that she and Kokichi were sort of friends now, since together they were definitely way too powerful. ‘Yeah Kaz, is that bad thing? You big homophobe’, the supreme leader definitely faked disappointment as he accused the mechanic. He wasn’t sure when they got on first name basis, but he was definitely sure that wouldn’t last long. ‘You’re one to talk’, Kiibo luckily stood up for Soda, as they focussed their attention on Kokichi now. ‘Excuse me?’, he mocked a hurt expression, ‘I’m literally full homo for Rantaro, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Keebs. But I suppose you can’t know what real love is like, since you’re a robot’. ‘I wasn’t talking about the  _ homo _ part, I was talking about the  _ phobe _ part, and this just proves my point. Make any more robophobic remarks and I’ll see you in court’, Kiibo warned him, surely offended by the teasing of the other. 

But was it a bad thing, like Miu asked? Soda wasn’t sure. ‘I- I honestly don’t know’, he answered the girl and completely ignored how his other friends were bickering now, ‘you tell me’. ‘I don’t think we can tell you whether you’re attracted to dick or not, that’s not how it works’, Ouma quipped, quick witted as always. ‘Stop’, Kazuichi groaned, ‘I don’t want to have this conversation with you, you’re literally twelve’. This was one of the first things that were said in the moment that  _ actually _ managed to offend the kid, as he raged about how he was only short for his age but still packed a fair punch if Kazuichi wouldn’t take that back. Luckily Kiibo also seemed uncomfortable by how quickly things had escalated; at least Soda didn’t need to suffer alone. ‘Well you know what they say. Don’t knock it ‘till ya try it!’, Miu cackled the piece of advice out of nowhere, the mechanic’s cheeks slowly tinting a little red again. ‘What does that even  _ mean _ ?’, he whined, ‘how the fuck am I supposed to  _ try _ ‘it’ ?’. Ouma hummed. ‘Just give him a smooch and you’ll know’. 

Kazuichi wasn’t sure why, but for a second there he was actually considering this, until it dawned on him that this was  _ Gundham Tanaka _ they were talking about. The dude that had always been his love rival, not love  _ interest _ . A panic rose in him again, one that he wasn’t sure how to push away. Why, why was he considering this? ‘Can’t blame you’, Miu quipped and interrupted his train of thoughts, ‘I mean, he  _ is _ the ultimate Breeder, you know. If that doesn’t scream big dick energy, I don’t know what does’. Needless to say everyone was uncomfortable for the moment the girl was having the time of her life with this joke. Kazuichi wasn’t sure to what he owed this suffering. 

Luckily Iruma knew at least a little something about reading the room, because a certain anxiety at the whole idea filled Kazuichi again, as he pulled on his fingernails in a nervous fashion. He couldn’t exactly bite his lip; he’d tried that before, and his sharp teeth had almost pierced him. ‘Hey, calm down, it’s not that bad’, she said, her voice a little softer now. Usually she wasn’t that great at comforting people, but she’d learned a little, and at least she was comfortable enough around these people. ‘Yeah, it’s no big deal!’, Kokichi chimed in, although his soft smile quickly set in a grin. ‘But that is a lie, nee-hee, it is actually a very big deal, and you should definitely stress the shit out over it like a dumbass’. It probably was meant to mock him, really, or to lighten the mood, since Soda was pretty sure Kokichi didn’t actually mean anyone harm here, but it didn’t help his situation. ‘Don’t you have Detective Emo or Killer Bitch to annoy?’, Miu snapped at the supreme leader, who pouted at her comment. He had obviously already thought over the possibility, but came to the realisation that he would be receiving more attention under these friends. ‘Maki’s with mister luminary of the stars right now, and-’, ‘Shu-bitchy is trailing behind them like a lost puppy’, Iruma finished, knowing what he was going to say anyway since it wasn’t that hard to guess. Ouma looked very touched, dramatically placing a hand over his heart. ‘Girl! We finish each other’s sentences!’. It would forever be a mystery to Kazuichi how Kokichi’s and Iruma’s friendship really worked. Or a friendship between Ouma and anyone, actually, since he was pretty sure he threatened to murder anyone around him before then making a move at them in some twisted way. At least things were interesting around them, he supposed. 

His presence in the room had momentarily been forgotten, but as soon as Kokichi’s eyes met his’, the boy realised there was something he’d wanted to say. ‘Oh right, I don’t know- but that’s a lie, I do know’, Kokichi contradicted himself already and this promised to be a confusing thing to sit through, ‘Tanaka’s probably crying in his room right now or whatever cuz of all this so I don’t know, maybe you wanna check up on that’. That seemed very out of character for a person like Gundham, but it did concern Kazuichi. He wasn’t really sure whether Ouma had meant to say that mockingly or out of concern, but to be quite frank, Soda didn’t really care either way. He decided to just check up on the breeder anyway, and he left the lab. He blocks out the banter he left Miu and Kokichi in as the girl asked if the ultimate Supreme Leader actually saw Gundham cry, and his answer to that was a simple ‘nope, but Kaz had to move cause I wanna annoy Kiibo’. Whatever. That was their problem now. 

Kazuichi made it to the Ultimate Breeder’s dorm room, coming to a halt in front of his door. He knocked on the door, although immediately his mind started running again.  _ What am I even doing here _ , he thought nervously,  _ he’s probably got better friends than me to help him right now _ . That realisation was too late however, as he’d already knocked and made his presence known, so he couldn’t just let panic overtake his actions and bolt away from the room like he not-so-secretly really wanted to in the moment. Definitely too late, as Tanaka actually answered the door. So Kaz’s hopes of the guy not being shut in there were gone too. He seemed actually quite surprised at the sight of the pink haired individual at his dorm room door, and something else Kazuichi couldn’t quite make out. 

For some reason, quickly enough the face of the breeder fell, and Kazuichi couldn’t bring anything past his lips. That’s when Tanaka spoke up. ‘If the purpose of your visit to my realm of sleeping was to ridicule me now that the Devil Dancer has broadcasted my personal agenda and preference of affection in the realm of dining, then I will spare you your precious time’, he muttered, a little gloomy, as he was close to shutting his door again, but Kazuichi stopped him. ‘I just came here to check on you, bro, chill’, Soda said, not very tactful but efficient nonetheless, as Gundham let him in. It wasn’t as awkward as Kazuichi thought it would be; he had expected to feel very strange or reluctant to be around the other, but he somehow already knew beforehand that thought had been ridiculous. Even though they were basically rivals back in the day, he had always secretly thought that Tanaka was a pretty cool person, and genuinely a good guy, despite being close to Sonia. That was actually what had made it harder to hate him, but Soda had been childish enough to manage. 

‘So… you okay?’, the mechanic asked, as that was his reason for stopping by after all. The pair of mismatched eyes on his didn’t break contact, although a bit of confusion was visible on the other’s face for a moment, before he realised what was being asked of him. ‘If you worry about my wellbeing, I must clarify that the incident in the realm of dining isn’t a cause of affliction to me, since I feel no shame for my preferences’, Gundham explained. ‘However, I did exit the realm once my morale failed my cursed existence, and I felt a certain resentment towards the Demon. I did not wish for a catastrophe to take place, when one could be avoided’. The indication of that kind of scared Kazuichi once he managed to decipher what the other meant, but he also thought it was kind of cool how Tanaka thought; he apparently had no shame for being the way he was, even if he wasn’t very open about himself, and Kazuichi wished he could simply be like that himself. He wanted to say something, anything, but he wasn’t sure how to. ‘Do you wish to commune, Kazuichi?’, Tanaka asked, for a second contemplating whether or not he wanted to use the mechanic’s first name, and eventually deciding on just doing so. For some reason, that was enough for Soda to let it all out, the worries that had flooded his brain now verbally leaving his body. 

  
So Kazuichi spoke, and he spoke for a long while. About his dad, at first, since that was the origin of his worries, really. The guy hadn’t been that bad, but he did have different beliefs and was a bit of a rough one, definitely when the subject of gay rights and whatever else came up in their household or on the news. And Gundham… just listened. He listened to Kazuichi complain about how his dad thought it was a really big deal when really it wasn’t, listened to Kazuichi speak about how now he didn’t want to think it was a big deal but he did and he felt just like his father, and even some worries that were completely off track but the boy was talking and didn’t feel like he could stop. How he didn’t even fully grasp the concept, and how his friends had confused him, and now he wasn’t sure what to think. Even if he felt a little shitty for talking Tanaka’s ear off, he couldn’t help it. 

He was finally silent for a bit, and the air wasn’t as tense as Kazuichi thought it would be. Maybe that was why he dared to ask the question he wanted to ask. ‘How did you know?’. 

‘You must be more specific for a befitting response, Kazuichi’. 

Again Soda could feel his skin near his cheeks heat up a little, and he was pretty sure he was at least a little red by now. He rubbed his neck awkwardly, looking anywhere but at the other. ‘Uh, how did you know that you were… you know… playing for the other team’, he tried to put it lightly, not wanting to come across as rude. He realised it may have also been a bit of a personal question, and for that alone he already wanted to facepalm himself for asking. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know the answer, since it could be something he didn’t want to hear and would bring him to a scary conclusion about himself. Stupid friends. He wished they never told him anything, all this confusing stuff wouldn’t be happening. His brain wasn’t made for this amount of overthinking actually important things. But Tanaka was already answering. ‘Oh’, he thought for a bit, his straight and somewhat powerful looking posture never changing. He truly was not ashamed, and it amazed Kazuichi, although he felt bad for thinking that was a cool thing; it should have been normal, after all. But he himself still was having trouble facing the possibility. ‘I suppose I have just always possessed the knowledge that those of the female species were not suited for my romantic interests’, Gundham explained, holding onto the scarf that was around his neck. Even inside the school he would always wear it, and it made Soda question if he was just really cold all the time, a question he didn’t dare to ask out loud. This was however not really much help. Kazuichi still wasn’t any wiser about his own problem. 

The worst part of this confusion was his mind that was screaming at him that it was Gundham Tanaka he was thinking about, and that it was ridiculous. The same mind that completely ignored Sonia’s flaws and made her out to be some fairytale princess that logically Kazuichi knew wasn’t true, actually. He was tempted to listen to it in a cowardly way he was used to, but he didn’t. Instead, he couldn’t help but to suddenly think about certain pretty sweet gestures from the other male in the room, that before he hadn’t given as much as a second thought. Like when they were on a school trip to some theme park, and Kazuichi didn’t want to get on a roller coaster since he has terrible motion sickness. The others tried to pressure him into going on the roller coaster anyway, but there Gundham had told them off, saying if the guy didn’t want to go on one he shouldn’t have to. It had been nice, and eventually the other had even accompanied him when the others went in some attraction that involved water. That had been one of the firsts time Kazuichi had a normal chat with the breeder. But it wasn’t the last; and even though their conversations were usually short, he couldn’t help but to enjoy them anyway, even if he was sure he didn’t like Gundham since he was close to Sonia, at the time. It wasn’t the only time the guy had shown he was actually nice, even if he didn’t always show it. Before that, there had been a couple of moments the dude stood up for him, also regarding Hiyoko whenever Mahiru wasn’t near to stop the girl of her endless pestering. Back then they didn’t even consider each other friends, and Kazuichi found it strange why he never questioned these moments before. ‘ _ Just give him a smooch and you’ll know’  _ Ouma’s voice ran through his head. Again heat rose to his face.  _ Give me a break _ , he pushed those thoughts away. It was still Gundham he was thinking about, and he needed to chill. 

The internal panic and struggle seemed to be not that internal after all, as Tanaka came to realise that Kazuichi wasn’t doing so well. ‘My apologies’, he said, ‘if I am making you uncomfortable’. It came out so calmly and understanding, that Soda felt even more guilty for this assumption than he would’ve if the guy had been angry at him for freaking out. ‘No! I mean, uh, no’, Kazuichi cleared his throat, realising that maybe he came on a little too strong. ‘Honestly, I am making myself uncomfortable, it’s not you’. He’s unsure to why he feels really shitty thinking that Tanaka might feel guilty about this, and he isn’t sure why he actually cares about something like that. ‘I… suppose you have learned about the existence of my private journal’, Tanaka muttered somewhat embarrassed now, since this topic was a whole different one. Well, not different, but much more  _ personal _ so to say. And Kazuichi must say, he felt really bad when a tiny nervous chuckle escaped his lips. He really didn’t mean to laugh, he didn’t. It was just the idea of Gundham Tanaka, self-proclaimed overlord of Ice and Darkness and whatever the fuck that ultimate goth king could come up with… owning a diary. That was enough to crack a simple man such as Kazuichi up. ‘S-sorry’, he quickly apologized for the laugh, biting his lip. It of course stung immediately, and he really had to remind himself not to do so when he knew his sharp teeth were definitely not meant for that. ‘Yeah, I have’. 

‘Well, then I suppose it would only be fair for myself, the great Gundham Tanaka, to enlighten you with my knowledge! So, I will be utterly candid and speak’, the breeder started talking again, seemingly to soothe himself. His voice was still as passionate as ever though, and Kazuichi supposed that wouldn’t go away any time soon. ‘It is true that I have somehow formed a certain appreciation for a mortal at this realm of learning, in a… romantic manner’, Tanaka said, proving what Ouma had said before. Gundham did like someone. Even if he still tried to keep himself cool, he did hide half of his face in his old reliable scarf, per usual as anything personal like that would come up. It was kind of endearing, but that thought was pushed out of Soda’s mind as quick as it had came to him. ‘And said mortal is... you, Kazuichi. I suppose it was only fair you gained this knowledge for yourself’, Gundham finished, and even though his face was mostly hidden by the scarf, Kazuichi could still see a bit of a red tint on his face. Of course he was nervous; the mechanic wasn’t sure why he didn’t expect the guy to be nervous, when he was confessing.    
  
Kazuichi wasn’t sure why he wasn’t that freaked out about this, either. His own face must have been beet red as well though, judging by the warmth radiating from his cheeks. The only thing he managed to get out was a small ‘...oh’. ‘I am not certain whether that is a positive or negative reaction’, Gundham muttered, studying the boy’s face. ‘Trust me, dude’, Kazuichi breathed, ‘me neither’. 

The mechanic had a moment to calm down as he thought about it. They were alone in Gundham’s dorm room, there was probably no one looking for them right now, and he did just get a confession from the other; that was privacy enough to ask what he wanted to ask. And obviously Tanaka wouldn’t laugh at him for it; he was the one that just confessed having a crush on someone he used to constantly verbally fight with. Still, he couldn’t help but to secure himself a little. ‘Okay, so, like, I wanna ask ya something- but doesn’t matter if you say yes or no, if you ever repeat this to anyone, ever, I will personally make sure you have to sit through forty eight hours of Komaeda speaking about the importance of hope, non stop’, the pink haired male threatened, and even though Gundham smirked a little as to not laugh about that idea, he nodded anyway for him to go on. Again with the advice of his friends on his mind, Kazuichi started speaking. ‘Alright so… I don’t know. I’m honestly really confused, which wouldn’t be the first time’, he sheepishly confessed, clearing his throat a little awkwardly after. ‘I- uh.. I’m confused, because I’ve never thought about… well… liking dudes’. Tanaka could understand that so far, luckily, he didn’t look irritated at least. Kazuichi again wasn’t sure why he thought the guy would be, but then again, he himself was in a state of confusion at the moment. ‘So… what if I were to try and find out, by, uh, you know. Kissing you’, he rushed the last part, feeling ridiculous having to ask something like that from the other. The warmth from his face almost got unbearable as a moment of silence followed. He was almost ready to pretend he was just joking and then bashing out of the room and never looking back, but the breeder spoke up. 

‘Alright’. 

It was simple, it was a little hesitant even, and for some reason it felt strange to hear Tanaka say something that didn’t take hours to finish because of his usually dramatic dialogue. Maybe the fact that Gundham actually agreed to this made Kazuichi even more nervous about that he now really had to do this, and he needed a moment to mentally prepare himself. Luckily the breeder knew that this was something big for the other and didn’t push him to do something when Soda was overthinking for a bit.  _ Just do it, it’s no big deal _ the boy repeated in his head, hoping to gain some courage, and once he did, he stepped forward. The thought that the other wasn’t so keen on physical contact either was somewhat comforting to the pink haired ultimate. At least he wouldn’t be the only one nervous out of his mind. Worse was that he never actually got to kiss anyone (the one accidental kiss with his grandmother when she tried to kiss his cheek but reached over too far not included), so if this was going to work out and he realised he didn’t like guys after all, his first actual kiss would’ve been with  _ Gundham  _ fucking  _ Tanaka _ . Although; he also felt a little bit of pride in that knowledge, and it made him courageous enough to lean forward. The purple piece of accessoire was no longer covering the face of the other. His face was still hot, and the closer he got to the other ultimate, the more he could feel heat radiating from him as well. It was strange, really, as he for some reason always imagined Gundham to be cold. But a hand reached out to Kazuichi’s cheek after a quick apology about his skin being poisonous or whatever, and his touch was pleasantly warm. 

Almost,  _ almost _ were their lips touching, when the door behind them flew open. ‘Tanaka, I’m here to apologize for exposing your sexuality to-’, Hiyoko’s annoying voice sounded, before it morphed into a sort squeal. She pointed her finger at the embarrassed duo, as a hand found her face almost dramatically, but Soda knew this was actually her genuine reaction. But at least she wasn’t disgusted or something like that; just shocked. The mechanic was about to step forward to stop the girl, but she ran off already, along her way out yelling out in the halls about how Kazuichi and Gundham were snogging faces;  _ which is false, since she’d actually rudely interrupted the possible face-snogging  _ Kazuichi thought bitterly. ‘So much for an apology’, he grumbled after a moment of awkward silence, and Gundham gave a nod. ‘As was expected of a fiend like the Devil Dancer’. 

And yeah, he was really disappointed that they were interrupted, for some reason. Soda came to the conclusion this was probably because of the fact that Hiyoko would go around the whole school with this revelation that wasn’t even true, and he would have to hide away the whole year in shame, not able to face his other classmates. But as he eyed over to the still slightly red, definitely embarrassed Gundham, and he couldn’t help the tiny smile forming on his lips despite what just had happened, he was pretty sure that conclusion wasn’t completely right. 

Whatever. It had always been obvious. Kazuichi himself, however, was never known to realize obvious things such as those. But there’s a first time for everything. 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so, that was the end.   
> I'm not sure if anyone cares, but I really want to write some more fiction, however, this time with another ship from either the second or third game.   
> Since I just want to practice writing more, and I enjoy it either way, if there is a specific ship you'd like to see, please comment! I think so far I'm okay with anything that isn't junko x anyone, tsumugi x anyone or killer x victim. If I'm uncomfortable with the ship you comment, I will tell you, but that doesn't mean I'm shaming you or whatever! It's totally fine, there are just some (combinations of) characters that don't sit too well with me.


End file.
